Microstructural characterization of tungsten carbide coating in XC48 steel substrate

TOUGHERGHI Fataha, KHENFER Khadidjaa,

a
Laboratory of Science and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Process

Engineering, University of Science and Technology HouariBoumediene, 16111 EL alia Bab

ElzzouarAlgiers, Algeria.

Abstract

This work aims to study the microstructural evaluation of tungsten carbide on XC48 steel
substrate. The tungsten carbide coatings were obtained by oxy-acetylene process with C-Mo-
Al-Ni interlayer. The tungsten carbide coating samples are characterized by optical
microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy.
Were Porosities and cracks is observed in the samples with hardness of 2168 HV for the
tungsten carbide particles this last are distributed homogeneously in the Ni-Cr matrix.

1. Introduction

Steels are used in different mechanical applications that necessitate a good protection against
problems of wear and corrosion. Hardfacing with tungsten carbide is one of the remedies that
satisfies this requirement. The oxyacetylene process is a very simple and economical process
[1]. For this reason, it can be used in various industrial structures, such as in the steel industry.
Recently, the use of particles reinforced with a metal matrix such as WC-Ni is of great interest
for its mechanical and tribological characteristics which combine the ductility of the metal
matrix with the high hardness and good wear performance of WC particles [2-3].
The decarburization effect is dependent on many different parameters such as the size of the
particles, the working temperature and the time of explosion at high temperature [4-5].

2. Experimental part
In this work a cylindrical XC48 steel of 25 mm diameter is used to prepare samples of 4 mm
thickness.
Sandblasting was carried out to create a roughness Ra (7.93 μm) which ensures mechanical
adhesion. A interof the Roto-Tec 51000 Nickel-based type has been projected by the thermal
flame projection process,the chemical composition of the powder is illustrated in Table 1.
The parameters used for the projected bonding layer are:
• Pressure Oxygen at 4bar.
• Acetylene pressure at 0.7bar.
After formation of the interface a hard-facing was carried out by the oxyacetylene process by
a flexible cord based on tungsten carbide the chemical composition of flexible cord and
moved in Table 2.
A micro-structural study (MO, SEM, EDS) and mechanical (micro hardness) was performed
to characterize the coating.

Tableau 1: chemical composition of the bonding layer in (%Wt) .

C Mo Al Ni
<0,25 5,6 5,8 Rest

Tableau 2: Chemical composition of the flexible wire in (%Wt) .

C Cr Fe B Si Ni
0,7-0,8 8,6-9,9 2,3-2,9 1,1-1,4 2,7-2,9 Rest
* Tungsten carbide (65% enrobing).

2.1 Microscopic analysis

The samples were sliced cross-section using a metal cutting machine, mounted in cold epoxy
resins, polished with granulated paper (roughness ranging from 400 to 1200) and polished
with 1μm alumina particles to detect microscopic coating structures. The microscopic
structure of the coating was observed using optical microscopy (OM OPTIKA. The SEM used
in this study is the JEOL JSM6360 scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and spectroscopy of
X-ray diffused energy (EDS) is used to describe structures and composition of coatings.

2.2. Hardness test

Vickers hardness was measured using a standard bench top indentation tester (Wilson®Tukon
2500) at an indentation load of 100 g with 15 s total loading time.

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Microscopic characterization (OM)
The micrograph of the sample (Fig.1) produced by optical microscope shows the structure of
the coating / substrate, where a remarkable interface area appears. We note that the deposit
has a distribution of tungsten carbide grains in a nickel matrix with different sizes. The
distribution of the carbide grains is homogeneous with various particle sizes. The existence of
the porosity at the level of coating which is a little removed from the interface with a good
adhesion to the substrate is distinguished.

Fig.1: Optical micrograph of the sample (coating / steel).

3.2 Characterization by SEM

 The coating formed with tungsten carbide based wire shows pores, whose sizes are becoming
larger near the interface. The micrograph produced by SEM shows a distribution of tungsten
carbide grains in a nickel-based matrix, the carbide sizes are different. At the interface level,
there has been interdiffusion of elements. On this micrograph we noticed that the large grains
of tungsten carbides in the near of the interface begin to dissolve, of an exploded form. The
dissolution of the carbides of tungsten remains partial, just around the grains sounds sees
lamella forms grow, contrast darker than WC-W2C. This confirms the inter-diffusion between
the elements of the bath (during the melting), and on all the thermal activation which favors
the enrichment of the precipitates in elements (Fig .2).
 Fig. 2: SEM micrographic Observation.

We observe in Fig .2 the dissolution of the grains of tungsten carbide WC in the form of
lamellae in the nickel matrix.

Fig.3: SEM micrographic observation on the coating.

To confirm the nature of the chemical elements in each zone of the samples, X microanalyses
were performed on the samples using the EDS technique. This technique, often related to
SEM, works with electrons and gives qualitative and more or less quantitative information on
the chemical composition of the analyzed part. The spectrum shown in Fig.4 illustrates a
qualitative analysis of the concentration of the main elements along a profile on our sample.
Table 3 reveals the approximate concentrations of EDS analysis along a profile coating /
substrate of the sample.

Table 3: Qualitative analysis by EDS

Element Wt% At%

CK 00.28 01.84
AlK 00.86 02.49
WM 41.81 17.71
CrK 02.93 04.39
MnK 00.30 00.42
FeK 26.30 36.66
 Fig.4: The qualitative analysis spectrum of a coating / substrate profile.

3.3 Micro hardness Vickers (HV)

To confirm the results of the micro-structural study for the substrate and coating, Vickers
micro-hardness profiles were carried out for the samples. We find that the micro-hardness
measurements at the grain of tungsten carbide are the highest (2168 HV). Along the
indentation profile, the deposition matrix has hardness moderately close to that of carbides
WC-W2C, against it follows a hardness drop of (484-313 HV). This drop corresponds to the
interface, then an almost constant hardness on the substrate (247-220HV). The curve of the
hardness profile of the sample is presented in Fig.5.

coating
Interface

Substrat

The step is 150 µm

Fig 5. curve of the hardness profile

(HV1)
Conclusion
This work enabled the micro-structural and mechanical characterization of coatings based on
tungsten carbides hard-facing on ordinary steels. In particular, we are interested in the
interfaces, these contact parts between deposit and substrate, which often pose adhesion
difficulties. This characterization has allowed us to understand the reasons why adhesion
defects occur by causing breaks in the coating / substrate and to better predict the life of this
type of coating.

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